Eyes of Ice, revisited
by Shikimo
Summary: New witches threaten the STNJ. However, the hunters may have bitten off more than they could chew this time when they find out the relation of the three. Storyline splits at chapter 5 First plotline complete.
1. Chapter 1

Before these shenanigans return, I feel the need to state that I am the original author of this story, I own the OCs introduced, I'm just a dumbass and forgot how to log into the account I originally posted this under since I haven't attempted to use that account in 3 years and created it 5 years ago. That being said, there is a storyline split around chapter 5 (I believe) from where I was unsatisfied with how it ended and wanted to redo it without destroying the original ending. That should be all for my initial ramble, the first 12 chapters are all copy/pasted from what I originally uploaded, with a few changes (deleted (most) responses I made to reviewers and any statement I made that seemed like a good idea at the time but noe realize were just plain stupid.)

The original can be read by going to .net/~dasqueakz

I do not own Witch Hunter Robin, if I did then I wouldn't actually need to go to college and could spend frivolous amounts of money.

()()()()()

"Back again?" the man behind the counter said.

"Yes, and you should know what I want," the man said.

"Coming right up."

The man looked around at the place he was in. "Harry's" was what a said outside read. Business seemed to be slow today, judging from the lack of patrons. The man was about 16 as best he could tell. His blue eyes had some other bits of color, mostly goldish, and they seemed to be able to look right into you, although most of the time he didn't really notice anybody's presence. He always seems to have an air of calmness around him. Being of about medium height, nobody paid much attention to him.

'Doesn't bother me,' the man thought to himself.

"Here's your drink."

"Thanks."

"So what's your name? You seem to come around here often," the bartender said.

"My name? I don't really remember. Most of the people I know just call me Ghost," the man said.

"Ghost, huh? Interesting choice of name. Any reason why?"

"Does it matter?" Ghost replied.

"I guess not. Ah, Miss Robin, Espresso?"

"Yes, thank you," the girl down the counter replied.

Ghost looked down at the person. It was a girl about his age and had blond hair that stuck out from the sides of her head. She had green eyes, and was wearing a long dress like thing with what appeared to be a red jacket on it. He started to smile about her appearance, something he hadn't done in a long time.

"Something funny?"

He noticed that she was looking at him.

"Not really. It's just been a long time since I saw somebody dressed like you," Ghost said, his smile fading and his voice in its usual serious tone.

"Maybe I like the way I'm dressed," Robin replied.

"And that's perfectly fine by me," Ghost said as he paid for his drink and got up to leave.

"Here's your espresso Miss Robin," the bartender said.

"Thank you," she said as she took the drink and turned back to Ghost.

But he was gone


	2. Chapter 2

()()()()()

Raven's Flat

"Raynalia Margonos. Age 18."

"So that's our next witch?" Amon asked.

On the screen in front of him was a picture of a girl. A teenager by the looks of it. She had long black hair that came down to her waist, and the screen read her as 5' 4". Born in America, recently moved to Japan. Her eyes stuck out the most. The irises were colored silver. Power: unknown yet.

"We don't know what her power is? How do we combat that?" Sakaki asked.

"We're still unsure. Michael seems to think that she might have control over an element like Robin, but he's still unsure," Karsuma said.

"You're talking like I'm not here right now," Michael said.

"Sorry."

"Don't worry about it."

"So where is she right now?" Robin asked.

"Apparently she's in an apartment downtown. Who volunteers to go check it out?" Michael said.

"I'll go," Robin replied.

"I guess I'll go as well," Amon said.

"All right. You two get going, I'll send you the exact address via on linear filter," Michael said.

()()()()()

Ramada Inn

"So this is it?" Robin asked Amon.

"Looks like it," Amon replied.

Amon knocked on the door of room 236 of the Ramada Inn. When no one answered, Amon looked around. From a pocket inside his coat, he produced a lock picking kit.

"Isn't that illegal?" Robin asked.

"Only if you get caught," Amon replied.

Within seconds, Amon had picked the lock. He pulled out his orbo gun as swung the door open, gun first. Nobody was inside the room.

"Nobody's here," he told Robin.

"Ok. Let's go back then," Robin said.

As they turned to leave, something caught Robin's eye.

"Wait," she said.

She walked back inside to find a message, written in ice on the wall.

Sucks when witches disappear like ghosts, doesn't it?

"I'm going to send a picture of this to Michael," Amon said.

He flipped his communicator over and took a picture.

()()()

Back at Raven's Flat, Amon was discussing the 'mission.'

"She wasn't there, and it seemed as if she knew we were coming. As you can see, from this message, her powers have awakened and she knows how to control them. Otherwise, we would have had a bunch of ice everywhere instead of forming letters," Amon explained.

"So this witch can control ice? I guess now we know her power," Sakaki said.

"It would seem that way," Michael replied, "But something about this message bothers me. Why would she make witch and ghost plural? Do you think that there might be another witch with her?"

"It's possible, but we can't be certain. Right now, we must focus on taking down Raynalia. Ideas?" Zaizen asked.

"No. We saw nothing that hinted towards an appointment in her room," Robin said.

"Alright. So it seems that we have a dead end here," Zaizen said.

"I'll go watch the hotel," Amon said.

"Why would you do that? We already concluded she's not there," Sakaki asked.

"Because all her stuff was still there. She has to go back later to get it, right?" Amon said.

"I guess. Robin, go with him," Zaizen said.

"Ok. When do we leave?"

"Now."

()()()

Outside Ramada Inn

"So what do we do while we wait?" Robin asked Amon.

"Watch for the suspect," Amon replied.

"Amon," Robin said a bit nervusly.

"Yes?" he replied, not taking his eyes off of the entrance to the hotel.

"Could I, do something?" Robin said.

"Go ahead," Amon said, turning to look at Robin.

"Ok. Could you take your coat off? This might be easier without it on," Robin said as she took off her coat-like-thing. (Not the dress, the thingy that she wears on top of it that is usually red or black.)

Slowly, Amon took off his coat as Robin undid the things in her hair. She reached out and ran her hand through Amon's hair.

5 minutes later, the communicator rang. Amon sat up and answered it.

"Hello," he said.

"Amon, what are you doing?" Michael's voice said.

"Watching the hotel," he replied.

"Well, apparently not too well. Raynalia's been in and out of there. The hotel computer has her checked out," Michael said, "What have you two been doing?"

"Nothing regarding you," Amon said.

"Really? Hmm, is that one of Robin's hair ribbons?" Michael asked, getting a mischievous look on his face.

Amon took the piece of fabric out of hair and handed it back to Robin, who was hastily putting the other one back in.

"It's not what you think," Amon said.

"Oh? Then what were you doing?" Michael asked.

"Well, I'm embarrassed to admit this, but," Amon stopped.

"What?" Michael asked.

"I see the target."


	3. Chapter 3

"Are you sure that's her?" Michael asked.

"Positive. The hair and the eyes give it away. We're going after her," Amon said, turning to Robin, "Let's go."

"Shall I send Sakaki and Miss Karasuma to help?" Michael asked.

"No, we'll be fine," Amon said as he got out of the car.

Robin got out of the car and the two of them began to follow Raynalia. She acted as if she didn't know they were behind her, but she was no fool. She had seen the lock when she returned to the hotel after leaving. And now they were following her, just like she had planned. After twenty minutes of wandering around aimlessly, she began to walk towards the warehouse. She stopped in front of it, and cast a glance around, knowing that the two hunters were near. She then proceeded inside. Amon and Robin quietly went in after her. Raynalia walked into the open part, then acted like she was busy doing something. Amon stood in the doorway and pointed his orbo gun at her back. He pulled the trigger, but the bullet missed. It passed through the very spot she had been moments before.

"Deception's a bitch, wouldn't you agree, hunters?"

Amon looked to his left and saw her standing there.

"Perhaps, but it only works for so long," he said as spun left and pulled the trigger, again missing Raynalia.

Suddenly a fire sprang to life behind Amon as Raynalia quickly moved to avoid it.

"Craft user!" Raynalia said to herself.

"So the STN-J has a craft user on their side. This will make things more interesting," Raynbalia said, as she seemed to disappear.

Robin created a wall of fire to her left and then another to her right as Raynalia dodged the left one, but ran through the one to her right.

"Trying to burn me? Won't work," Raynalia said as she tried a head on attack.

Robin conjured up more fire to get in her way, but Raynalia jumped over it. As she was flying through the air, she fell to the ground as something hit her in the shoulder. She looked at the blue liquid now present on her.

"Damn you and your orbo," she said as she clutched her injured shoulder.

She got up again, and ran straight Robin. When she got close enough, Robin used her power to deflect Raynalia backwards towards the walls of fire. However, now instead of a fire, there was a patch of ice. Raynalia landed in a crouched position, as the orbo had already begun weakening her. Robin tried to shoot fire at Raynalia, but it was all blocked.

"Fools," Raynalia said.

"What do you mean by that? You're the one trying to kill hunters who have the orbo, remember?" Robin said.

"Perhaps. But what if the odds weren't in your favor?" Raynalia asked.

"Explain," Amon said, his gun leveled at Raynalia's head.

"Maybe she's not alone," said a voice above Robin and Amon.

Robin looked up.

"Who are you?" Amon demanded.

"Me? Ghost, and it seems that you have already met my girlfriend, Rayna," Ghost said, as he jumped down and landed next to Raynalia.

"It's you!" she exclaimed.

"Yes, it is me. I believe your name was Robin?" Ghost asked.

"It doesn't matter," Robin replied.

"What's wrong? Don't want to admit it to your lover that we know each other?" Ghost was teasing Robin now..

"He is not my lover," Robin replied.

"Oh really? My friend Rayna here said that you two were doing something in a car before you started chasing her. Making love for good luck? Thinking that it would be the last time you would be able to?" Ghost said again.

"I swear, you two are just like Michael," Robin said, a slight smile forming on her lips.

"Enough talking," Amon said, face color changing slightly as he remembered Robin trying to teach him to tie his hair out to the side.

"Yes, I agree with the hunter. Shall we kill them, or just escape and let them live for now?" Raynalia said.

"Well, I think that perhaps they should live for a while. Besides, we might need their help when he shows up," Ghost said.

"Ah, right. I had forgotten about him. I think that you might be right," Raynalia said.

"Who are you talking about?" Robin asked.

"A person whom you should be hearing about very soon. But until next time, goodbye," Ghost said, as a wall of ice formed between the hunters and the hunted.

Using her craft, Robin melted the wall in a matter of seconds, but Ghost and Raynalia were gone.


	4. Chapter 4

**Raven's Flat  
**  
"It was reckless of you two to rush after the witch like that. You didn't even know what her power was. And now you say that there is another one with her? The two of you could have been killed!"

Zaizen was hysterical yelling at Amon. Amon just stood there saying nothing.

"Think about it! That witch knew we were after her, and even laid a trap for us. You should know better than that. And to top it off, she escaped with the help of the other witch! You'll take the blame for this. Do not let this happen again. Get out of my sight," Zaizen said.

Amon walked out of the office. He looked at his fellow hunters who all seemed to have been eavesdropping.

"We have work to do. Get into the briefing room," Amon said.

The hunters walked into the room and sat down.

"Hit it Michael," Amon said.

The screens in front of them lit up. On them was a picture of Ghost, with the usual information and a new one on Rainalia.

"It's rare for witches to work as a team," Amon began, "And it seems that these two know how to do it right. Maybe it was because the second one got the drop on us and we didn't know Rainalia's craft was speed while he had the ice. The next time we meet them, we should be ready to counteract them both. Rainalia still seemed to be able to take the orbo and not lose her power. That means that she's a hell of a lot stronger than anticipated. From now on, take her down by any means necessary. Even killing her, but only if it's necessary. As for Ghost, take the regular precautions. I don't think he's that strong, but my judgment's been wrong in the past. Michael, you're up."

"Well, We can't seem to find anything on this witch Ghost since it's not his real name, but we do know that he has an ice craft and what he looks like. We tried to match his profile to other witches but the system goes haywire when we do, so it seems he can hack. I doubt that's it, but right now we don't have any other ideas," Michael said.

"So we're going after two witches who work together nicely without much information on one and the other can withstand orbo?" Sakaki asked.

"It would seem that way. Ghost is quite powerful actually he blocked my craft completely," Robin said.

"So it's decided. We go after both with full force then. Be back here tomorrow at 4:30 am. We need some sort of jump on those two." Amon said.

The hunters got up and filed out of the room.

"Robin, stay here for a while," Amon said.

The young craft user stopped and went back to Amon.

"What is it?" she asked.

"The witches said they might need our help with something or someone. If it's someone that those two need help against, they could be a powerful ally for the stn-j," Amon said.

"A powerful ally perhaps. Or an even deadlier enemy," Robin said.

()()()()()

**Some other place that I don't feel like naming at the moment. What? I'm lazy.  
**  
"Let me see your shoulder," Ghost said.

"It's fine," Rainalia said.

"Right. Just let me see it," Ghost said as he tried to grab her.

"I'm fine dammit," Rainalia snapped as grabbed her shoulder.

"Rayna, you don't usually snap at me and that pretty much tells me you're not all right. Now let me see your shoulder," Ghost demanded again.

Reluctantly, Rainalia walked over to him and removed her hand from her shoulder. He pulled out a dagger and carefully cut the shirt around her wound. There was still some of the blue orbo on her skin. He looked in the wound to see if the bullet was still in her. Luckily, it was not.

"You got lucky that the shell's not still in there. Otherwise I would have to dig it out of you with this knife, and that wouldn't feel too good. Be more careful next time, all right?" Ghost said.

"Whatever," Rainalia replied.

"You know I'm right. We can't exactly get the drop on the hunters like we did last time. We need a new plan," Ghost said.

"Any ideas?" Rainalia asked.

"Not at the moment, but then again, are we in any hurry?" Ghost asked.

"No, why?" Rainalia asked.

"Then I guess we don't need to think at the moment," Ghost said as he leaned closer to Rainalia.

"I know what you're thinking, and no," Rainalia replied.

"How many times have I gotten you to change your mind in the past? Besides, you said you were fine earlier. Why not prove it to me now?" he said, knowing that Rainalia would never admit to being weak.

"Damn you Ghost," she said quietly as she slipped into his arms.

"What can I say? I know your weakness," Ghost replied grinning.

"Yes, but you have one too," Rainalia said as she began taking off Ghost's shirt.

"Try to find it," he challenged, enjoying the feel of Rainalia's hands against his skin.

"All right," she replied as she unsheathed one of Ghost's daggers and pressed it against the skin of his neck, "You get overconfident, and that will be your downfall."

Ghost looked down at his own weapon being used against him.

"Would you really kill me love?" he asked.

"Not like this," she replied as she put the dagger down and settled back into her former position.

"Much better," Ghost said, "Much, much better."

"So you're still willing to make love to the person who just threatened your life? That would be foolish you know," Rainalia teased.

"Am I a fool for you?" Ghost replied.

"I would think so," Rainalia said.

"Now then, about that making love part that you spoke of," Ghost let his voice trail off.

"Oh fine," Rainalia said as she began undressing.

()()()()()

**2 hours later, same place as before  
**  
"Ghost, you're crazy," Rainalia said from her position upon the bed.

"I know. But that's why you love me so much," Ghost said as he rolled off of Rainalia.

"You know that idea won't work," Rainalia said as she got up and went to find her clothes.

"It's worth a shot. You know he's stronger than me. We will need all that we can get," Ghost said.

"Still. It's not worth what would happen to you. I couldn't bear to see you like that," Rainalia said.

"We would lose for sure otherwise. Together in life or death. I will not lose you Ghost. You mean too much to me," Rainalia said.

Rainalia looked up as she felt something on her cheek. She looked up into the eyes of Ghost.

"We will always be together Rayna. Always," he said as he kissed her.


	5. Chapter 5

**Raven's Flat**

**2:30 am  
**  
Michael was staring at his terminal, bored as hell, when a message popped up suddenly.

'Wonder what this is,' he thought to himself.

He opened up the box and read it. His eyes widened when he had finished. Immediately, he called the hunters and told them to come to the stn-j headquarters right away. Within 15 minutes, everyone had arrived looking rather sleepy.

"What is it Michael?" Amon asked, the only one seeming to be partially awake.

"I just received a message," Michael said.

"And why do we care Michael?" Amon asked.

"It's from Rainalia. She wants to meet Robin at the park in front of Harry's at 3," Michael explained.

"So am I going alone?" Robin asked.

"Well, it will look that way, but we'll all be close by. We can't let her slip through our fingers when she asks to meet up with us," Amon said, remembering the last time they had met the witch.

"All right then. I should leave now if I'm going to make it by 3," Robin said as she turned and left.

**Park in front of Harry's**

**3 am  
**  
Robin was walking through the park looking for Rainalia when she heard a voice behind her.

"I didn't actually think you would show up alone. Very good, but very foolish at the same time," the voice said.

Robin turned around and saw Rainalia leaning against a tree.

"Why did you send for me Rainalia?" Robin asked.

"Because, you're the only hunter that doesn't use the orbo. You do know what orbo is made of, right?" Rainalia asked.

"You called me out here for a different reason than that," Robin said, her eyes narrowing.

"True. Ever hear of a witch called Auzzie?" Rainalia asked.

"No, why?"

"Because he's coming to Japan. And it won't be very pretty when he gets here. I called you here for two reasons. The first was to ask you to stop hunting Ghost and me. The other is to ask for the help of the stn-j in stopping Auzzie," Rainalia said, "Do we have a deal? Will you stop hunting us to help us kill Auzzie?"

"Thank you for the information, but we will not stop hunting you or Ghost. And speaking of Ghost, I hope you said goodbye to him," Amon said as he stepped out from behind Rainalia and prepared to shoot her.

"No, she didn't," Ghost said as he dropped out of the tree and used his momentum to knock the orbo gun out of Amon's hands.

"Well this time we have the advantage," Amon said as two orbo bullets flew into the tree right next to Ghost's head.

"Then it's time to get serious. Ice spike!" Ghost screamed as he slammed his hand into the ground.

Multiple paths of ice spiderwebbed across the ground from Ghost hand. As each one neared a hunter, a spear of ice shot up through the ground, missing the hunters by inches because the orbo tried to redirect the attack. Ghost shot up from his crouched position with his elbow flying backwards in an attempt to hit Amon in the stomach. The experienced hunter blocked it but was caught off guard by Ghost's spinning roundhouse kick from the opposite direction. Ghost's foot caught Amon in the side and he smiled as he heard the grunt of pain. He brought his leg back down to the ground and was about to strike again when he saw a column of fire fly right where he was about to go. He wheeled around and got ready to attack Robin when Amon slammed his fist into Ghost's side. Cringing in pain, Ghost let off shards of ice like shrapnel towards Robin before returning his attention to fighting Amon. The odds definitely were not in his favor, as two-on-ones generally aren't good. He then created a weapon of ice, sharp as a sword, but more deadly in the fact that the blade curved like that of a kris. He began to attack Amon with that. Hoping that he could force him to retreat without actually having to kill him. Amon ducked the blade and punched Ghost in the side again.

"Damn it to hell!" Ghost cried out as he brought his ice weapon slashing across Amon's face, cutting him across his left cheek.

He would have kept attacking but Robin interfered again and used to her craft to create a barrier of fire and Amon. Ghost rebounded away from the shield, and set his feet back in his fighting stance.

"Fine. It's been fun, but I'm sorry to have to end it now," Ghost said as his icy tool of death melted away and Ghost drew both of his daggers.

Using his craft, Ghost enchanted the weapons with an icy coldness that would transfer into the body of whomever was struck by the weapon. Wielding his daggers, Ghost felt reassurance flow thorugh him. He did not have to worry about losing to the hunters. Just Auzzie. If he lost to him, things would not be good for anybody. He crouched down once more and waited.

Rainalia wasn't having much more luck against the other two hunters. Although they couldn't actually hit her, the orbo kept Rainalia from getting too close. She dodged left as another orbo bullet streaked in front of her, then ducked as another went over head.

'Damn it, I can't get in close enough,' she thought to herself.

She continued dodging bullets while trying to formulate another plan of attack. She ducked behind a tree and began drawing a symbol on the ground. When she finished, the ring glowed brightly then faded away. This caught Robin's attention and distracted her from the fight between Amon and Ghost. Her eyes widened as she realized what just happened.

'The Spectre's Circle!' she though to herself, ' that means...'

The rest of her thoughts got cut off by the blinding flash of light followed by the high pitched screams of those long dead. It caused everyone to stop what they were doing and cover their ears and close their eyes. When it was over, Ghost and Rainalia had disappeared once more.

"Damn, they got away," Amon said as the blood ran down his cheek.

"Amon, you're hurt," Robin said as she ran up to him and began inspecting the cut.

"I'll be fine," Amon replied, wincing slightly as Robin touched his cheek, "Besides, we need to return to the base and report to Michael. He might be able to find something about this Auzzie person that Rainalia mentioned."

"Right," Robin said as Sakaki and Karasuma walked over to them.

"Would somebody mind telling me what just happened? What was that birght flash?" Sakaki asked.

"That was the Spectre's Circle. It's a dark craft, rarely used by even the most powerful of witches. When used, it takes the grief and pain of the creator and makes it into what you just saw. The more grief they have, the stronger the effect. We got off lucky that what happened was all. Usually that attack is used as a last resort to kill you and your opponents," Robin said, frowning.

"So she wanted us dead?" Karasuma asked.

"No. I don't believe either one wanted to kill us. Ghost seemed to be holding back when he fought me," Amon said as he showed the two his cut.

"That looks pretty bad Amon. You should see somebody about that," Sakaki said.

"Not right now. At the moment, we need to go back to headquarters," Amon said as he turned and left.

The other hunters followed him.

**The same place Ghost and Rainalia were before. If you have any ideas about what I could call it, leave me a note in your review.  
**  
"I told you that was a bad idea," Ghost said once he and Rainalia had returned from the park.

"It was still worth it. Auzzie is a lot stronger than you give him credit for," Rainalia said.

"We almost got pumped full of orbo by those hunters. You might not have noticed, but that tree I was next to was blue by the time the fight was over. Those hunters are a lot stronger than either one of us figured. And another thing, why did you use the Spectre's Circle? The last time you did that, I barely kept you from dying, but because of that I lost part of my humanity. I barely feel happiness or joy. Do you know what it's like to be like this? Life is pretty damn bland without those emotions," Ghost said, reminding Rainalia of her past incident with The Circle.

"I'm sorry," she said, as her head drooped and her mood sank.

Ghost walked over and put his arms around her.

"Look, don't ever do that again. You know that no matter what I would do whatever I could to save you," Ghost said softly, "Even if it cost me everything I have."

"In know, ghost, I know," Rainalia said as she closed her eyes and fell into his embrace.

"Look, Rayna, you need to sleep. Go to bed now," Ghost said, the softness in his voice completely different from what he felt inside.

"I'll be fine," Rainalia said as she removed herself from his arms and sat down on the couch.

Ghost walked over and sat dwon next to her. He put an arm around her shoulders and she leaned her head on his shoulder. He returned the gesture by placing his head on top of hers and closing his eyes.

"Goodnight Rayna," he said as he prepared to fall asleep in that position again.

"Night Ghost. I'll see you again when we wake up," Rainalia said.

"I'll see you in my dreams," Ghost replied.

Within minutes, the two were sound asleep.


	6. Chapter 6

**Random Airport  
**  
"Flight 546 from Australia has arrived on schedule. Would the people leaving for China please board the plane as soon as it is empty. Thank you and have a nice day."

A man with dark brown hair walked into the terminal. Well, technically he was a teen. He was about 5'8" or so, seemed to have a moderate build. Behind the sunglasses he wore, his eyes were a brilliant shade of yellow. He walked to the baggage claim and waited for his luggage. He picked up two items. A long thin package and a regular suitcase. He went to the counter and asked about a girl who arrived in Japan two weeks earlier.

"Rainalia? Yes, she arrived here two weeks ago. Are you a friend?" the clerk asked.

"I'm an acquaintance. Could you direct me to her lodgings? I have something I need to give her," the man said as he motioned towards the package in his hand.

"Ah, okay. The place that I directed her too was a Ramada Inn about 30 minutes or so down the road. Would you like me to call ahead and reserve you a room there as well, sir?" the clerk asked.

"Yes, that would be very nice of you. Put it under the name of Auzzie," the man said.

()()()()()

**Raven's Flat  
**  
"So that gives us what now, 3 witches?! The whole team got beaten at the same time. I think this means we need some more competent hunters on our team," Zaizen said.

This time, he had assembled the whole team into the conference room to 'talk' to them. Amon stood up.

"Well, why not start looking now, because I don't think the witches will wait for us to act," he said coolly.

"Fine. Michael, begin finding out information on this witch Auzzie. Anything you can get would be good. Power, family, appearance, everything. As for the rest of you, get back to your stations. You're all dismissed," Zaizen said.

The hunters proceeded back to their computers. Michael began to look up the new witch while Doujima opened up yet another magazine. Where she gets all those, I do not know. Amon sat at his terminal, staring into the screen. His hand kept wandering back up to the cut across his cheek. It didn't go very deep, but it traced his jawline and hurt continuously. There was definitely more to that cut than it seemed. His thoughts returned to the fight from that morning.

_Flashback  
_  
Ghost enchanted his daggers using his craft and waited. The second the ice had finished coating the blades, Amon had felt a pain like no other coming from his wound. He remembered seeing Robin standing in the Ring of Ogham (sp?) chanting. Upon finishing, she opened her eyes and there was a blaze like no other behind them. He saw the fire shoot out from the ring towards Ghost. When it reached him, something strange had happened. The fire froze, it literally froze. He could still see the glow produced from the daggers when a loud screeching noise reached his ears. He covered his ears and closed his eyes in attempt to block out the sound and bright light emanating from somewhere behind him.

_End of flashback  
_  
'Somebody powerful enough to block all that. And his girlfriend says they might need our help? Damn, Auzzie's going to be tough to bring down,' Amon thought to himself.

"Amon?" Robin said.

Amon snapped back to reality.

"What is it Robin?" he asked.

"I was wondering how that cut on your face was doing," Robin said, concern present in her eyes.

"It's just fine. It will leave a scar, obviously, but other than that it should be fine," he said.

"Okay. Michael said he's found something on the new witch," Robin replied.

"All right, let's see what he has."

Amon got up and walked over to Michael's monitor. Questionable content was present.

"Ineresting way to look for information Michael," Amon said.

"Doi!" Michael said as he quickly closed out the window.

"That looks more like work," Amon said teasingly.

"Well hey, this place gets kind of boring, you know?" the hacker asked.

"Regardless, you have information on this witch?" Amon said.

"Yes. The only name down is Auzzie, but it's still got a bunch of information on him. Apparently, he's a lot like a hunter. He hunts down witches and kills them. But that's about all the good that he does. Along with the witches, he kills anybody who gets in his way. He's from Australia and seems to be pretty good at escaping. His craft is the ability to control electricity, so the orbo won't be much protection from him, seeing as the chain is made of metal. You'll basically be a big conductor if he tries to fry you. He also uses a bo staff for some reason," Michael summarized.

"So basically, this guy's gonna be a bitch to take down without the use of orbo to protect ourselves," Amon said.

"Basically," Michael replied.

"Where is he right now?" Amon asked.

"You'll never believe it. He's got the room right next to Rainalia's old one at the Ramada Inn," Michael said.

()()()()()

**THE hotel room. Ghost and Rainalia's room is now known as THE hotel room. Keep that in mind.  
**  
Ghost woke with a start. Forgetting the fact that Rainalia was still sleeping in his arms, he began to stand up. He stopped moving when he heard a noise. He looked down at Rainalia.

"Don't go, don't leave me like the others. I don't want to be alone again," she said, still asleep.

"You'll never be alone. I will always be by your side," Ghost said.

Ghost's thoughts drifted back to the dream he had been having.

_Ghost's dream  
_  
"So, the little runt's back, huh? This should teach him a lesson," the person said.

It was a dark alley. A boy of about 12 was crouching in the shadows, crying to himself. Around him were some of the Retsoobs, the dominant gang of San Diego.

"I think we let him off too easy last time. This time, we'll teach him what pain is," the guy said.

"Please, don't," the boy said, covering his head with his arms.

"It's too late for that. You had your chance to join us and you threw it away. It's time to show that nobody disrespects the Retsoobs," the person in the front said, pulling out a knife.

Next, he walked over to the boy and slashed him across the chest. Blood poured out of the cut, but it wasn't over yet. He then hit the boy upside the head with the handle of the knife then kicked him hard in the side. The boy just fell towards his now injured side, one hand on his throbbing head and the other trying vainly to stop the blood flow from his chest.

'Leave me alone, just leave me alone,' the boy cried to himself,' I haven't done anything to hurt you guys.'

However, he knew better than to ask a Retsoob for mercy. It just made them hit harder. He vaguely remembered another blow to the head before blacking out. He probably would have died that day, but someone intervened.

Rainalia was walking down the street when she saw what was happening in the alley. She would never turn a blind eye to someone in need of help, so she went to help out the boy. She managed to get the Retsoobs to leave without too much of a hassle. She knelt down next to his unconscious form.

"I'll take care of you," she whispered as she picked the boy up and began the walk back to the orphanage.

Change of scene  
  
"She's dead. What will you do now? Will you run, or will you try foolishly to kill me?" the figure taunted.

Ghost straightened up. The tear running down his face froze into ice and then shattered.

"You're fucking dead!" he yelled as he ran across the room.

A bolt of lightning slammed into his chest and sent him to the ground. The figure stood over him.

"Die," it said as it plunged something into Ghost's chest.

_End of dream_ (a/n: yes, that was all one dream.)

Ghost moved some hair off of Rainalia's face. Sleeping in his arms, he knew something. She completely trusted him. She knew his past, all the things he had done that he now regretted, all the things he had done that hurt her. And yet here she was, sleeping in his arms telling him not to leave.

'Life sure is strange,' he thought to himself.

He looked at his watch. 5:15. Still too early to get up. He rested his head on Rainalia's again and went back to sleep.

_And now we get into Rainalia's head  
_  
Rainalia lay on the ground, feeling a pain inside her like no other. She saw her friend Anna above her, looking down onto her. Slowly, she turned and walked away.

"Don't go, don't leave me like the others. I don't want to be alone, again," she said to her retreating form.

She felt a sinking sensation inside her. Again, she was alone. Nobody was there for her once more. The strength that she showed on the outside was merely a front. Inside, she was torn apart by the fear of being alone.

Change of scene  
  
Rainalia looked at the knife. Technically, it was a dagger, Ghost's dagger. The one that she had given him. Usually she could put up with what he did, but not this time. The two had gotten into an argument, bigger than they usually did. It had ended when Ghost screamed at her about how he hated her and ran off.

'Well,' she thought to herself, 'He'll never have to hate me again.'

She flipped her left wrist up and raised the dagger. She swung it downward towards her wrist but it stopped suddenly. She looked up and saw Ghost's hand around the blade, bleeding.

"Are you out of your fucking mind?" he yelled.

She looked away.

"Damn it, answer me!" Ghost screamed again.

When she still didn't look at him, Ghost yanked the dagger out of her hand, throwing it across the room in the process, and grabbed her face with his still bloody hand. He positioned her face so that she looked directly at him.

"Look, I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier. I didn't mean to snap like that. But you need to be confident about who you are. Otherwise, people will just walk right over you," Ghost said, staring Rainalia right in the eyes, the rage melting inside of him.

"I just," Rainalia said, "I just don't want to be alone."

"You'll never be alone. I will always be here for you," Ghost said.

_End of being in Rainalia's head  
_  
Rainalia woke up slowly and saw Ghost still sleeping next to her. Gently, she removed his right hand from her shoulders and stared at the line across his fingers.

"I'm so sorry," she whispered.

"You don't have to be," Ghost said as he opened his eyes, "I chose to catch that blade."

"But you didn't have to," Rainalia said.

"I know that. That's why I don't mind the scar," Ghost said as he inspected his hand.

"But what about-"

"I don't like showing off the other one. Now go back to sleep. You'll need your rest," Ghost said as he stood up.

"Where are you going?" Rainalia asked.

"Your old hotel room. Auzzie checked in there last night. We need to act fast and get the drop on him. I'm going to check things out and come back. Will you be all right here by yourself?" Ghost asked.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Rainalia said as she stretched out and laid across the entire couch.

"Ok. I'll be back later," Ghost said as he walked out the door.

"Be sure to come back to me," she said quietly as the door closed.

Rainalia went back to sleep. Was awakened by a knock on the door about two hours later. She got up opened the door.

"So we meet again," the figure in front of the door said.

"Auzzie," Rainalia said under her breath.


	7. Chapter 7

()()()()()

**THE hotel room **(gotta love that name)

"Auzzie," Rainalia said under her breath.

"So you do remember me Rayna. I'm surprised," Auzzie said through a false smile.

"Ghost calls me Rayna. Not you. And yes, it is kind of hard to forget the one who made your life hell," Rainalia replied.

"Oh come on, I was just having a bit of fun," Auzzie said with the smile still plastered on his face. (a/n: just imagine a sort of whiny voice for this part. I'll tell you when his voice returns to normal)

"Funny how your bit of fun almost killed people," Rainalia said.

"Well, I never said that it would be fun for _everybody_," Auzzie said.

"I guess not. So then, what do you want now? Come to finish what you started?" Rainalia said as she mentally prepared for a fight.

"Never one to beat around the bush," Auzzie said as the smile disappeared and his voice changed back to it's usual darkness, "so I guess now I'll get to have some fun."

"Maybe I'll have more fun than you will as I watch you lay on the ground and die," Rainalia said.

"Perhaps. Or maybe you'll end up looking up at me," Auzzie replied as he opened the package from the airport and removed a bo staff from it.

"Still using that stick Auzzie?" Rainalia taunted.

"Still weaponless I see. That's a mistake you won't be able to fix," Auzzie said as he gave the staff a few swings and began to concentrate his craft into it.

"Perhaps. Or maybe I just don't feel like using it right now," Rainalia said.

"Whatever. Time to finish what I started years ago," Auzzie said as he charged at Rainalia.

She waited until she was just outside of the bo's reach then, using her craft, she ran to her left and attacked Auzzie from his right side. Amazingly, he reacted in time with the staff to deflect her attack. Rainalia dodged the staff and attacked again but was cut off once more by the staff. Refusing to give up, she spun around to her left and charged straight at Auzzie. As expected he moved the staff, but instead of dodging like she usually did, she ducked underneath it. Although caught off guard by this maneuver, Auzzie brought the rear of the staff cracking down into the ground and caused a ring of electricity to spread from the staff. Rainalia jumped to avoid the shock but Auzzie swung his staff while she was airborne and got in a solid hit. Rainalia hit the ground and rolled, clutching her left arm, as it had received the force of the blow. She could feel the bone inside. Or rather, bones because of the fact that her arm between the shoulder and elbow was in 2 pieces. Using her good arm, she pushed herself upright and began to attack Auzzie once again.

"Persistent aren't you?" Auzzie said.

"Burn in hell!" Rainalia screamed as the staff deflected her once again.

"Only if you meet me there," Auzzie retaliated.

He slammed the staff into the ground again, but instead of a ring of electricity bursting from that point, a seal glowed on the ground. A matching seal soon appeared around Rainalia's feet.

"Time to die Rainalia Marganos. You shouldn't feel too much pain," Auzzie said as he began to channel his craft into the seal on the ground.

Immediately, Rainalia knew she was in trouble. She moved as fast as she could and managed to escape the pillar of electricity that exploded from the seal that had been at her feet with minimal damage. However, one of her legs had not been out far enough. Pain coursed through her leg as the electricity fried the muscles. She could no longer stand up. Auzzie looked at her.

"Tell me one thing Rayna. Why him?" he asked.

"Because," she said, "you're a heartless bastard and he's not. Now die! Spectre's Circle Apocalypse!"

The Spectre's Circle appeared around Rainalia. For a second, nothing happened. Then the lines began to glow, first the interlocking diamonds on the inside proceeding to the circle's exterior. The colors changed from yellow to blue as an orb appeared above Rainalia. Then, the energy built up by the ring was released through the orb with a single target.

Auzzie.

Auzzie concentrated his craft into the best shield he could get out of it as the power from the orb crashed into him. Then, Rainalia and Auzzie both fell to the ground.


	8. Chapter 8

Auzzie concentrated his craft into the best shield he could get out of it as the power from the orb crashed into him. Then, Rainalia and Auzzie both fell to the ground.

Ghost ran into the room in time to see the two fall down. He was at Rainalia's side immediately. She looked up at him.

"So you're here. I'm glad I get to see you again," Rainalia said.

"Of course you get to see me again. You will always be able to do that," Ghost said.

"No, not after this. I used the apocalypse Ghost. This is the one time you can't save me from the Spectre's Circle. No matter how hard you try or how hard you want to. I love you Ghost," Rainalia said softly.

"Don't die dammit! You can't just leave me here alone. What am I supposed to do now?" Ghost said, trying to keep the emotion out of his voice with little success.

"Live my love. Live. Here," Rainalia said as she placed her hand on Ghost's forehead.

Ghost felt a slight tingling go through his body. The interlocking diamonds on his shoulders disappeared.

"You released the seal?" Ghost asked.

"Yes. Now you don't have to worry about me seeing your power. Goodbye my love," Rainalia said as her silver eyes closed.

"She's dead. What will you do now? Will you run, or will you try foolishly to kill me?" Auzzie said as he stood back up.

Ghost straightened up. A tear ran down his face and froze into ice. It then shattered. He turned to face Auzzie.

"It's time for you die Auzzie. Rayna has released the seal on my true powers," Ghost said, his voice cold once more.

Instantly, the air around Ghost dropped in temperature. He began to walk towards Auzzie, his footprints appearing on the ground as patches of ice, then melting away.

"Regardless of how strong you are now, you are still no match for me," Auzzie said as he shot a bolt of lightning into Ghost, "DIE!"

Ghost took let the electricity course through his body without even flinching.

"You'll have to do better than that if you want to kill me. Perhaps you really aren't as strong as I thought you were, although the scar still burns sometimes," Ghost said, voice lacking emotion.

"Ah, so I did scar you then. Well, I think I'll add some more scars to your body," Auzzie said as he readied his bo staff.

"Alright. Try to," Ghost said, voice still distant and emotionless (a/n: from now on, put absolutely no emotion into Ghost's voice).

Auzzie ran at Ghost and swung his staff. Reacting at the last second, Ghost pulled out his daggers and struck twice. One to deflect the staff, the second to kill Auzzie. Only the first worked. As the staff got blocked, Auzzie dodged out of the way of the second dagger.

"So the sealed held off more than just your control over ice. Then it's time for me to stop playing around as well," Auzzie said.

The air around Auzzie began to crackle, as if it was alive with electricity.

"So here we are. Two witches with comeplete conrtol over a different element facing off against each other while the stupid witch hunting group has no clue where we are. The fools are off chasing a nothing that I left in the hotel room back there. By the time they get back, only one of us will still be alive. Who shall it be Ghost? Will the cold grip of ice triumph over the power of electricity?" Auzzie said.

"That we shall see," Ghost said.

"Not one to talk during a fight. You've grown up since that scar. It's truly a shame you have to die," Auzzie said as he shot another bolt of lightning at Ghost.

Ghost deflected some of the lightning but was still struck by some of it. He barely felt the pain, as his body had been numbed by the cold surrounding him.

"You'll have to do better than that. Or maybe I should attack this time," Ghost said.

Ghost charged at Auzzie daggers trailing behind him. He swung the dagger in his right hand only to have it blocked by the staff. He quickly whirled around only to be blocked agin.

"So, you got faster," Auzzie commented.

"Bite me and go to hell," Ghost said as he continued his attacks.

"I'd really rather not. You see, I like living up here. It's not that hot," Auzzie said, blocking another one of Ghost's swings.

"Well, if you would rather be cold, ICE SPIKE!" Ghost said as he leapt away and slammed his hand into the ground.

Instead of multiple paths of ice spreading from his hand, the ice burst out of the ground in a path straight towards Auzzie. The spike shot up and then exploded sending ice shards in every direction. Auzzie took some cuts from a few shards but had managed to dodge most of them. He focused on his craft and expelled more lightning towards Ghost. Again, Ghost deflected some of the electricity and took the rest of it into his body. The battle continued in this manner for a couple of minutes and then Ghost let a smile play across his lips.

"You've lost Auzzie," Ghost said, panting.

He had seared flesh across his whole body, but he didn't feel anything. Auzzie just looked at him.

"You're crazy. We both knoiw you can't keep fighting much longer," Auzzie said.

He was just as battered as Ghost, except that instead fo the seared flesh he just had cuts lining his body.

"With out the seals Rayna placed on me three years ago, I can show you my ultimate move. Sadly, I won't be alive to see what your dead body looks like, as the attack drains the life of the caster. Oh well. Nothing can stop the Final Apocalypse. Or at least, I've never known anything to. Spectre's Circle Final Apocalypse!" Ghost cried.

The walls around the room lit up. All of the scars on the walls caused by the elctricty began to hum with raw power. Blue lines began to appear, and then a light mist seemed to seep from the lines. The mist hovered over Ghost and began to take shape. What appeared to be people's bodies began to dirft out of the mist. Ghost stoiod there as the bodies stood next to him. When the last body had descended from the mist, Ghost looked at Auzzie and said a single word.

"Die."

He then flipped a dagger over and stabbed himself. As he fell to the ground, a body similar to the ones that had come from the mist rose from his dead form. As one, the bodies began to move towards Auzzie. Auzzie did his best to try to kill the forms, but because of the fact that they were already dead, he could do nothing as they overwhelmed him and began to drain his life force away from him.

"Damn you...Ghost," Auzzie said as the last of his life was drained away from him.

()()()()()

**Raven's Flat**

"So basically the three witches killed each other for us? Wow, and we didn't even ask them to," Sakaki said casually.

"Basically we got lucky. I investigated the place where the battle was fought. The walls were completely torn up and their blood covered most of the floor. Rainalia was lying on the ground, one leg completely fried, and Auzzie looked like just skin and bones. Literally. The strangest body was Ghost's. It looked like he had stabbed himself," Amon said.

"So we had a suicidal witch?" Sakaki asked.

It was Robin that replied.

"No. Ghost used a forbidden attack to kill Auzzie. In order to use the attack, your opponent must create the symbol, and you must sacrifice your own life for it to work. The power of the Spectre's Circle is actually strengthened by the nbumer of people you have killed. The Final Apocalypse, what Ghost did, takes the suls of every person that has died at your hands and recreates their bodies. Then, you kill yourself to add you soul to the mix and the bodies overwhelm your opponent and drain the life out of them. It's what you could call a last-ditch attempt to kill your opponent."

"And you know how much about forbidden witchcraft, why?" Michael asked.

Robin shot him a death glare. While not as potent as Amon's, Robion's death glares tended to work because of the 'I can reduce you to cinders' aspect of it. Michael quickly decided to shut up.

"So what do we tell Zaizen?" Sakaki asked.

"Exactly what I just said," Amon replied.

Robin got up.

"I'm going to go out for a bit now," she said simply. She walked to the elevator, went down, and exited the building via Vespa.

**Harry's **

"Hello Miss Robin. The usual?" Master (bartender dude) said warmly.

"No, not today, thank you. Do you remember that man that came in here a couple of days ago?" Robin asked.

"Why, yes I do. Very quiet person. He always seemed to keep to himself. Why do you ask?" Master asked.

"He was a witch, apparently from America. He could create and manipulate ice, and he even scarred Amon," Robin said.

"Really? That will be one to hear from Amon later. What do you mean by 'was a witch'? Did he die?" Master asked.

"Yes. I was wondering if you knew anything else regarding the Spectre's Circle."

"Ah, this again. I'm afraid I have told you everything I know about that symbol."

"Did you know that that man could perform the Apocalypse?"

"So that's how he died. Yes, I knew that he could perform the Final Apocalypse," Harry said.

"Why didn't you tell me he could do it?" Robin asked.

"Because I knew he wouldn't use it on the hunters."

"How?"

"He told me so. He was a very perceptive person. He knew that you would come to me for information on the Circle after your fight in the park over there, so he told me everything about the attack."

"Thank you very much. Just one more question," Robin said.

"What is it?"

"What was it that Ghost would order when he came here? I would like one please," Robin said.

Master smiled warmly, "Of course."

Robin sat and watched as Harry turned and prepared a drink. He set the beverage in front of Robin. It smelled sour, but Robin picked it up and blew on the contents.

'One last drink to you Ghost,' she thought as she downed the liquid.


	9. Chapter 9

Here's where the story takes a different path and actually follows my original plot line for the fic.

()()()()()

It was two nights after the fight in the park. Robin stood in the middle of a symbol she drawn on the ground. In the middle were two interlocking diamonds. Robin had drawn a replica of the Spectre's Circle in her room. At the moment, she was just thinking to her self.

'What was Rainalia talking about when asked if I knew what orbo was. It's a substance produced by factory to protect us from a witch's craft, right? And why did Rainalia use the Circle on us without wanting us to die?" Robin thought to herself.

"It doesn't matter," she said out loud, "I just want to find out what this Circle is capable of right now."

"Well, there are better ways to do that than to kill yourself," said a voice from behind Robin.

Sitting in the windowsill, was Ghost.

"What are you doing here?" Robin said as she tensed for a fight.

"Relax. If I wanted you to die, I would have let you use the Circle just now. There's a reason why few witches use it. If anything goes wrong at all, it takes your life. No questions. I'm not happy that she used it. She came real close to dying the last time," Ghost said.

"So why did you stop me? We're trying to capture you, and you want us all to live?"

"I can't change the fact that I'm a witch, and neither can she. You just have to play the hand life deals to you. I hold no grudge against the STN-J or the American branch. All I want is to live and be left alone. The same goes for Rayna. That's why we left the US. We figured if we came here, to a place where nobody really knows us, we might live in peace. And I also compliment your computer guy. He made on hell of a difficult system to hack into," Ghost said.

"So you did hack us. That's why we had nothing on you. And about Rainalia, I'm sorry," Robin said.

"Sorry for what?" Ghost asked, "That we had to come here?"

"Yes, but that's not it. Another thing about the Spectre's Circle is the ability to feel the presence of another one being made. We knew you would come here once I drew the symbol, and while you've been here, the rest of the hunters have been in and out of your hotel room," Robin said, not meeting Ghost's eyes.

Ghost said nothing at first. Then he walked over to Robin and lifted her chin up so she was looking in his eyes.

"I hope to God you're lying to me," Ghost said as he turned and exited through the window.

Robin sat down on her bed.

"Now I wish I was too," Robin said quietly.

Back at THE hotel room

Ghost looked around the room.

'Damn,' he thought to himself.

Ghost looked the walls, and the orbo leaking out of the holes in them. He walked over to the couch that he and Rayna had been sleeping on and felt the seat. It was still somewhat warm. Slowly, he sat down on it and did something he hadn't done in years. He cried. It was always either a hunter or a witch that would take something away from him. Sitting on the couch, he fell asleep.

Inside Ghost's dream

"So, the little runt's back, huh? This should teach him a lesson," the person said.

It was a dark alley. A ten year old boy was crouching in the shadows, crying to himself. Around him were some of the Retsoobs, the dominant gang of San Diego.

"I think we let him off too easy last time. This time, we'll teach him what pain is," the guy said.

"Please, don't," the boy said, covering his head with his arms.

"It's too late for that. You had your chance to join us and you threw it away. It's time to show that nobody disrespects the Retsoobs," the person in the front said, pulling out a knife.

Next, he walked over to the boy and slashed him across the chest. Blood poured out of the cut, but it wasn't over yet. He then hit the boy upside the head with the handle of the knife then kicked him hard in the side. The boy just fell towards his now injured side, one hand on his throbbing head and the other trying vainly to stop the blood flow from his chest.

'Leave me alone, just leave me alone,' the boy cried to himself, 'I haven't done anything to hurt you guys.'

However, he knew better than to ask a Retsoob for mercy. It just made them hit harder. He vaguely remembered another blow to the head before blacking out. He probably would have died that day, but someone intervened.

Rainalia was walking down the street when she saw what was happening in the alley. She would never turn a blind eye to someone in need of help, so she went to help out the boy. She managed to get the Retsoobs to leave without too much of a hassle. She knelt down next to his unconscious form.

"I'll take care of you," she whispered as she picked the boy up and began the walk back to the orphanage.

Change of scene

"Yeah, well you know what? Why don't you do something useful for a change instead of sitting around here moping about that scar? You can't change the past!" Rayna yelled at him.

"Well, what do you want me to do? Go around and try to get sympathy from other people about something I could have prevented from happening like you do?" Ghost screamed back.

"That was not my fault," Rayna said.

"Then whose fault was it? Just going to blame Meph again?" Ghost said.

Rainalia didn't answer at first. She just looked at Ghost.

"Leave," was all she said.

"Fine. And I am not coming back. Go burn in hell Rainalia. I don't need you. I don't need anybody," Ghost said as he turned and ran out the door.

Rainalia stood there and said nothing.

"So he no longer needs me. Then I guess I can die now."

Still in dreamworld, just elsewhere

Ghost was walking down the street towards Mojo's, a place he frequented for food. He was reaching for the handle when he paused.

'Damn,' he thought to himself, 'I shouldn't have said that. I don't need to take anymore pot shots at Rayna regarding the burning of the orphanage we lived in.'

Ghost turned around and began to run back towards the apartment he and Rayna lived in. He opened the door in time to see Rayna raise the dagger she had bought him into the air. As it began its descent, Ghost ran across the room and caught it by the blade. He felt the pain as the weapon cut into his fingers.

"What the hell are you doing?" he yelled.

Rainalia just looked away.

"Damn it, answer me!" Ghost screamed again.

When she still didn't look at him, Ghost yanked the dagger out of her hand, throwing it across the room in the process, and grabbed her face with his still bloody hand. He positioned her face so that she looked directly at him.

"Look, I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier. I didn't mean to snap like that. But you need to stop blaming others for the mistakes you've made. The most important thing is not what you've done. It's what you've done about it," Ghost said, staring Rainalia right in the eyes, the rage from seeing Rayna about to kill herself subsiding.

"I just," Rainalia said, "I just don't want to be alone again."

"You'll never be alone. I will always be here for you," Ghost said.

Ghost woke with a start. His past always crept up upon him in his sleep. That past he wanted to forget. Rayna taking part of his humanity, and now the hunters taking Rayna. He looked down at his right hand, where a scar lined his fingers. The image of Rainalia about to kill herself flashed into his mind. He then ran those fingers over the scar on his chest. The Retsoob in California who had cut him. He had hardened himself to the outside world in an attempt to forget the pain he had once lived in. Ha had managed to put on a show whenever something hurt him because he figured if he acted like it didn't hurt, it wouldn't. But as always, the pain had come to him while he slept. The pain that managed to keep him chained to his past. The pain that he could no longer share with Rayna. The pain of being alone again.


	10. Chapter 10

**THE hotel room**

Ghost woke up to the pretty sight of an orbo gun barrel.

"What do you want?" he asked irritably.

"You're coming with me," Amon said.

"I'd really rather not. I'm kind of comfy where I am," Ghost said.

"She's not dead yet."

Ghost sat upright. "What?"

"Rainalia's not dead yet. And there's a way she might remain that way," Amon said levelly.

"Well, tell me then. I'm listening."

"Become our hunting dog."

"So to keep her alive, I need to work for the STN-J? What's the catch?"

"We determine every move you make. By working for us, you have no freedom and Rainalia lives. Don't accept, we shall continue to hunt you and your girlfriend becomes the orbo we kill you with. If you accept, come to Raven's Flat tomorrow at six. If not, well, it's up to you," Amon said as he turned to leave.

"So tell me. Why do you work for them?"

"I have reasons. That's all you need know."

"That's all I need know or all you want to tell me?"

"I could shoot you now and get this over with you know," Amon said.

"Point taken. You'll find out my decision tomorrow," Ghost said.

**Harry's**

"Life sucks," Ghost said.

"Oh really? Well Mr. Ghost, what's on your mind tonight?" Master said.

"As I'm sure you know, I'm a witch."

"Yes, continue."

"My girlfriend, also a witch, was taken in last night by the hunters."

"That's not good."

"Well, she's still alive, and the only way to keep her alive is to become a hunting dog for the hunters."

"Is there something wrong with that?"

"The fact that it will be a pain in the ass charging in first after a witch. That is, assuming the hunters are good for their word and she's still alive."

"I can see how that's a drawback," Master said.

"A rather large one. Having witches fling whatever craft they possess may sound fun, but I think I'd rather sit back and let the hunters take care of it."

"So you're refusing the offer?"

"I don't know, maybe."

"It's better to have the hope that she might be alive rather than know she's dead," Master said.

"I think I might as well do it. Wonder what the pay for a hunter is. Probably nothing for me. Oh well, I've got until six tomorrow to decide. Although he didn't specify AM or PM. Well, I had wanted to sleep in tomorrow, so I'll just show up at six PM. Be a great way to start off work," Ghost said with an amused smile on his face.

"Just don't make it a habit. They'll probably get mad at you after the third time and Robin might fry you."

"Heh, that would be bad. I'd just kind of melt all of a sudden. She is kind of cute though," Ghost said.

"Don't you have a girlfriend?"

"Sort of. Besides, it's only wrong if I get caught. And that is not very likely given Rayna's current state."

"You have an interesting view of life Mr. Ghost."

"Please, don't call me mister. It sounds funny. And can I get a drink?"

"Sure. What would you like?"

"Well, what's good?"

"You're not old enough to drink the good stuff yet, I'm afraid. Perhaps an espresso?"

"Maybe some other time. How about hot chocolate? Got that?"

"I do. Would you like anything in it?"

"Loads of sugar."

"And how much is that?"

"Just start pouring sugar in and I'll tell you when to stop."

Master got a strange look on his face after having put one half of a cup of sugar in a 12-ounce drink. "Are going to be all right?" he asked.

Ghost cooled his drink down then chugged it. "Quite fine," he said, "Eventually."

"Well, why don't you go get some sleep? It's getting late," Master said as the look got even weirder.

"Why not? Got any place to sleep here? I don't really want to go back to my room at the hotel," Ghost said.

"You could sleep in that booth over there if you want to," he said jokingly.

"Ok," Ghost said as he walked into the booth and laid down.

"I was kidding," Master said.

But Ghost was already asleep.

"How does somebody fall asleep that quickly after drinking that much sugar?" he wondered to himself.

**6 a.m. the next day**

Ghost rolled over in the booth and fell off the seat. "Dammit," he muttered to himself as he climbed back in and fell back asleep.

**6:30 a.m. same day**

**Raven's Flat**

"I guess he's not coming," Amon said.

Robin looked over at him. "I think he'll show up. In the meantime, I'm going to Harry's. I need some food. Would you like anything Amon?"

"No."

"Alright. I'll be back soon."

"Will you get me some donuts?" Michael called from across the room, music still blaring in his ears.

Robin smiled as she left.

"So do you actually think he'll come?" Michael asked Amon.

"I don't know."

**6:45 a.m.**

**Harry's**

Robin walked into Harry's and found a strange sight in one of the booths. It appeared to be a man who had passed out. She walked over to the bar. "So who passed out over there?"

"Mr. Ghost did. He was awful tired last night and he asked if he could stay here for the night," Master said calmly.

"Well, he was supposed to show up at the STN-J about 45 minutes ago if he didn't want to get hunted," Robin said.

"Last night he told me Amon didn't specify whether he was supposed to show up at 6 a.m. or 6 p.m., so he decided to sleep in a bit. I hope this doesn't get him in trouble with your boss," Master said.

"So he's going to work with us? If he is, I should wake him up before he gets added to the hunted list again," Robin said thoughtfully.

"I wouldn't suggest trying to touch him right now."

"Why not?"

"He'll think you're attacking him and try to kill you."

"How do you know that?"

"Experience."

"Oh, OK," Robin said as she cast a glance at Ghost's sleeping form.

She watched as his body seemed to shift slightly and he fell out of the booth again. Muttering to himself, he began to climb back into the booth.

"Um, Ghost?" Robin called.

He turned at the sound of his name. "Yes?"

"I think if you're going to work with us, you should leave now and get to Raven's Flat," Robin said.

Ghost shrugged. A 'maybe' was heard as he lay back down on the seat.

"Amon figured you would think he meant a.m. and not p.m. when he said six. At the moment, you're almost an hour late."

"I wanted to be about twelve hours late, but whatever," Ghost said as got up.

"Just wait until I'm done here and I'll walk with you. They won't let you in otherwise," Robin said.

"Whatever," Ghost said as he walked over the bar and sat down next to Robin.

After a few seconds, Master put a drink down in front of both of them. Robin accepted the drink and Ghost just sat there, staring at the hot liquid inside the cup. "The hell is this?" he asked bluntly.

"It's an espresso. Try it," Master said.

"Whatever," Ghost said as he cooled the drink and downed it.

Again, Master just stared. Robin continued sipping her drink. When she finished, got up to pay. Ghost just watched her lazily, having almost fallen asleep again. He was brought back to consciousness by Robin asking him if he was ready to leave. He nodded and slowly stood up. Sticking his hands in his pockets, he began walking. Robin fell into step beside him. After walking for a few minutes in silence, Robin looked at Ghost.

"I'm sorry," she said.

Ghost didn't reply.

"Look, I know I can't change what happened but-"

"Just drop it," Ghost said in his usual cold voice.

The pair continued walking until they reached Raven's Flat. "We're here," Robin said.

Ghost looked at the building. Shrugging he walked into the gate. After hitting the metal, Ghost decided to wait until it opened to try walking through it again. Robin and Ghost passed the reception guy (don't know his name. Does he have one?).

"Who's this?" the guy asked.

"He's a new hunter," Robin said.

'More of a hound than a hunter' Ghost thought to himself.

"Oh, OK. Have a good day."

"Ghost and Robin walked passed the well and into the elevator. The elevator reached the top and the doors opened.

"Welcome to the STN-J," Robin said.


	11. Chapter 11

Amon looked at Ghost. "Zaizen wants to see you."

"And Zaizen is who?"

"Our boss. In there," Amon said as he pointed.

"Whatever," Ghost said as he walked through the door.

Zaizen was sitting at his desk when his door opened and Ghost walked in.

"You must be our new hunter. Have a seat," he said.

"You mean your hound," Ghost said as he remained standing.

Zaizen frowned. "If that's what you want to call it, go right ahead."

"How do I know she's alive?" Ghost asked.

"You just have to trust us," Zaizen replied.

"A day ago you wanted us dead. Now you're telling me to trust that you won't kill me or her."

"We didn't want you dead. We were going to give you to Factory."

"Do you think I don't know what goes on in Factory? I've seen too many of my friends get taken away by those people. How do I know we won't end up like them?" Ghost asked.

"By doing exactly what we tell you to do, you won't be sent to Factory," Zaizen said.

"And Rainalia?"

"Well, she's already there, but she's still alive at the moment."

"And to keep her that way I have to be your hound and chase witches while having their craft hurled at me. So I risk my life against other witches to keep you guys from killing me. I'd rather die at the hands of the witches than you people."

"And we can make it that way. Amon will be giving you your equipment today. You will be given a communicator, an orbo gun-"

"I refuse to use orbo."

"Then don't. But I doubt you'd last long against the others without its protection."

"You doubt my strength?" Ghost asked, anger rising.

"No. You managed to scar one of my hunters, something that has not happened in a long time. However, from today on, you are not allowed to harm my hunters in any way. Do so, and it's not your ass that dies. It's hers."

"Are you done yet? I think I'd prefer to be outside than in here listening to you," Ghost said.

"You will be broken of your attitude soon," Zaizen said.

"Bite me," Ghost said as he turned and left.

Back in the room with all the computers, Ghost looked at his 'fellow' hunters. His eyes glanced from Michael, listening to music loudly, to Karasuma, typing away at her computer, to Sakaki, staring back at him, to Robin, also typing, to Amon, sending Ghost a death glare. Ghost looked at Amon's cheek and smiled.

"Something funny?" Amon asked.

"Something's always funny, just some people don't recognize it to laugh," Ghost said as he went into the break room.

Amon's finger traced his scar. Robin got up from her computer and joined Ghost.

"He'll be like that for a while. You'll get used to it," she said.

Ghost said nothing, just staring at the wall.

"They're really not bad people. Amon seems cold on the outside, but he'll help you if you need it. Karasuma's interesting because of her ability to scrye. Michael is the genius behind the system you hacked. And Sakaki is a bit hot-headed and tends to rush in to situations without thinking about them."

"Just like I'll get to do. You said Karasuma can scrye. Which one is she?"

"She's the one with the short brown hair. Why?" Robin asked.

"I'd like to ask her to do something for me," Ghost said as he walked out of the room.

He was met with a series of glances upon exiting. "Are you Karasuma?" he asked as he approached the scryer.

"I am. What do you need?" she said.

"I would like for you to scry something for me," Ghost said.

"That's not unusual. What is it?"

"These," Ghost said as he put two daggers on her desk.

"Alright," Karasuma said as she reached out to touch the weapons.

Everybody in the room stopped to watch. As she touched the first dagger, an image flashed into her head. An alley. A boy. Then it changed. A feeling of depression. Another change. A sense of loss. Then, nothing.

"What did you see?" Ghost asked.

She told him.

"Alright. Thank you," Ghost said as he picked up the daggers.

"What did you want to know?"

"My past. I was hoping maybe these would know," he said.

"Hey Ghost. Can you come here for a second?" Michael called.

"What?" he asked as he walked over to the computer.

"Did you really manage to get into my system?"

Ghost smiled slightly. "Yes. You want to know how, correct?"

"I was hoping you would tell me."

"Stop looking at porn. Those sites have a bad habit of opening back doors."

Michael just stared. "That's how you hacked me?"

"Yup."

Michael sat awestruck for a moment then started laughing. "You're an interesting guy Ghost."

Ghost shrugged. "I guess."

"Ghost, come with me," Amon said as he stood up and walked to the elevator.

"Whatever," Ghost said as he joined Amon.

The elevator arrived and the two stepped inside. As it began its descent, Amon turned to Ghost. "Do you have any outside contacts you would like to say goodbye to? Starting tonight, the only time you will be allowed outside of the building is during a hunt, and even then I will watch you. Mess up once and I will kill you. Understood?"

"Whatever. I was told I would be given equipment. A phone of some sort?"

"Yes, you will receive one of them. You will also receive something else," Amon said as the elevator came to a stop.

The two walked into the hallway and Amon turned to the left. "Come."

Ghost followed Amon to what appeared to be a storage room. Inside were boxes containing orbo, guns, and a few phones. Amon pulled out a phone and what appeared to be one part of some handcuffs. He handed both to Ghost. "Put the phone in your pocket and the ring around your wrist."

As Ghost put the thing on his wrist, it closed around it. "The hell is this?"

"It's two things. One of its functions is a tracer. The other is for if you try to run. Inside that ring is orbo. Run, a needle injects the orbo directly into your bloodstream and you die. It won't come off, so don't bother trying."

"So you plan on tracking where I am so you know where to pick up my body from?"

"You could say that. We need to get back upstairs. Michael's probably found us another witch to hunt," Amon said.

"Whatever."

The pair returned to the computer room. As Amon had said, Michael had a witch. The hunters and their hound entered the briefing room.

"Antonio Masaki. Age 25. His craft is strength. His power seems to have just awoken. He has going around killing random people and needs to be stopped. He is currently located here," Michael said as a spot on the big board lit up, "And I expect him to move to somewhere around here." A path lit up on the board and went to a box outlined in small white lights. "The objective is to go in and neutralize him quickly and without injury to anyone on the team. Amon's in charge of teams."

"Sakaki and Karasuma, you go here." Two lights changed from white to red. "Robin, ghost and I will move here and wait for him. Should he escape us, it is your job to catch him. "He said looking at the pair. "It's time to go."

The group stood and filed out of the room. Michael sat down at his terminal and began surfing the Internet while the group was getting into position. Once they were, he closed out the window and began to track the witch's location. As expected, the witch was going down the expected path towards the hunters and their hound.

With Ghost, Robin and Amon

"We will take him alive Ghost. We don't kill them here," Amon said.

"Not directly anyway," Ghost muttered to himself.

Ghost looked up as he saw the witch coming. "And this is the part where I jump in there and bend in half, right?"

"No, this is the part where you jump in there and we shoot him while he's breaking in two," Amon replied.

"Whatever," Ghost said as he walked into the witch's path.

"Hey you, want to fight? I'll kick your sorry little ass," Ghost taunted.

The man approached Ghost as if sizing him up. "Not worth my time," he said.

That was a mistake. Ghost's leg lashed out and tripped the man. Before h realized he was on the ground, Ghost had one dagger at his throat. "Are you sure?" Ghost asked.

That was Ghost's mistake. From his position on the ground, the man grabbed Ghost by the arm a flung him away. He hit the ground and rolled. He got up in time to see the man pulling his arm back. Fire sprung up in front of the man as Robin used her craft. The man turned around, exposing his back to Ghost. It was his second and last mistake. Ghost pulled out his daggers and slashed both of the man's shoulder muscles and the tendons in his legs. The man fell to the ground, unable to use his legs or his arms. Amon looked at him.

"I didn't kill him," Ghost said.

"True. I'll call factory."

"Whatever," Ghost said, casting a look at the witch on the ground.

"I'm sorry," he whispered to the man.


	12. Chapter 12

"You done well so far in your hunts dog," Zaizen said.

"Oh good, I guess I can now forget the formalities. What do you want now? Another witch for a pet? You bored toying with your hunters and their 'dog'?" Ghost replied.

"You will do well to remember that a dog respects its master."

"Only when it feels respected will it return that respect," Ghost coolly replied.

Zaizen was left without a reply to that. "Respected or not, whether you like it or not, you will do as instructed without complaint."

"Even dogs disagree with their owners sometimes."

"Yes, and those dogs are usually put down," Zaizen said, looking at the band Ghost's wrist.

"Do you plan to kill me already?" Ghost asked.

"No, just make you hurt. From here, I can regulate the amount of orbo that bracelet puts in you. Observe," Zaizen calmly said as he flipped a switch and typed a few keys.

At first, Ghost felt the prick on the needle piercing his skin. Then, he felt the orbo enter his bloodstream. Suddenly, his whole arm felt like it was burning from the inside out. Resisting the urge to grab his arm, Ghost stared at Zaizen, the painful expression covered by one of pure hate.

When he felt that he could use his voice again, Ghost spoke, saying "When I am free of this place, you will be the only one I come back to kill."

"Oh good, then I guess that means that i will be able to watch you die in front of me," Zaizen calmly replied.

"Then I'll see you in Hell," said as he turned and walked away.

Zaizen watched his pet walk away. He knew that the orbo had weakened Ghost significantly. But he also knew that Ghost was still too powerful to get rid of. Yet. Once he had assisted the STN-J enough, he would be killed, just as Raynalia had been; though she didn't make as nice of a pet as Ghost had. Without any bargaining chip, she had flat-out refused his offer and was taken away to Factory and killed. It was a shame too. With the amount of speed she had, she would have proven very useful. Oh well, he had his hound and he was happy with that.

Ghost entered the computer room and looked around. It was empty except for Michael, who was busy tapping away at his keyboard. Ghost then proceeded from the computer room to the elevator and finally down to the well. Sitting down on the edge, he looked at his arm for the first time since Zaizen had injected the orbo into him. He knew that it was only a small amount, but was surprised as the effectiveness. Not much had ever been able to hurt his body through the numbness created by the power of ice flowing through his bloodstream. But then Ghost noticed something. As he looked at the interlocking diamonds on his shoulders, he noticed they looked a bit fainter.

'So the orbo weakens any power of a witch, even if that power is not being actively used, meaning that the more orbo Zaizen puts in me, the weaker this seal gets. So Zaizen has indirectly strengthened me,' Ghost smiled, 'How nice of him to help me kill him.'

Ghost's thoughts were interrupted by another presence. He looked over his shoulder to see Michael standing behind him, hands in his pockets.

"May I help you?" he asked coolly.

"Well, Mr. Ghost-"

"Don't call me mister. I may be your elder but that does not mean you have to show me respect."

"I show you the respect of saying mister because I respect you. You managed to scar Amon, and you've had multiple chances over the past month to kill any of the hunters and make it look accidental, yet you've never taken any of them. You've either grown to respect us, or your love for Raynalia surpasses your hate for us. But that is not why I came outside to talk to you," Michael said.

"So does this mean the 2 dogs of the STN-J have a mutual respect for each other?" Ghost asked, eyes looking right into Michael's own like he was searching for some hint of a lie.

"No, it means the hacker and the witch employed by the STN-J respect each other. Calling yourself a dog means you're more broken than you think you are."

"Whatever. What did you want to know?" Ghost asked.

"Well, at this point it's obvious that you would do anything to save your girlfriend. I mean, it shows in the fact that you're here and we're all still alive and-"

"Get to the point."

"Right, I was just wondering, um, how did you, you know," Michael seemed to be sruggling to word it correctly.

"How did I know that I would do anything if it would give me the chance to see her again?" Ghost finished for him.

"Well, yeah," Michael answered.

"Well, it was simple. You find someone, realize you care, and you do everything that you can to let them know you care. You let them know you're their friend. Then, after you've done that, you let life take its own course. If you're meant to be with her, you will be. Bear in mind though, she doesn't need to love you back for you to still protect her, or for you to be happy to be able to talk to her. It's when you realize that you want what's best for her, not just that you want her, that you'll know that you'll do anything for her," Ghost said, his gaze drifting from Michael to down the well.

"So is that how you and Raynalia started out? Just friends?" Michael asked.

"Yeah. Just friends. It's how it all begins. What you see in movies, where the guy and girl see each other once, and suddenly they know they're destined to fuck each other's brains out by the end? They know that because they've read the script. Real life has no script; there is no way to know what is going to happen. All you can do, is be who you are, love who you want, and hope that they love you back," Ghost said, still looking into the well.

Michael seemed to reflect on this. As he stood to leave, he cleared his throat. Ghost broke stare into the well and looked at Michael. "How do you tell her that you love her?" Michael asked.

Ghost briefly showed a slight smile. "You use words and how you feel. The hardest part is getting started. After that, all you can do is wait for her response and hope she doesn't take a week to respond," Ghost said.

"She made you wait a week before she answerred you?" Michael asked.

"No. She made me wait two," Ghost said, chuckling a bit.

"Heh, that sucks. I'm going to head back up to my computer. I have some thinking I need to do and I do it better up there than anywhere else. Thank you for your help Mr. Ghost. What you said makes sense," Michael said as he turned and walked to the elevator.

"Well, Mr. Michael, you've asked me a lot of questions tonight, now allow me to ask one of my own. Who is it?" Ghost asked.

"A secret," Michael replied as the doors opened and he stepped inside. "She's cute though."

"Well, that rules Amon out," Ghost said as the doors began to close.

Michael's laughter was muffled after the doors had finally closed. Ghost watch the elevator rise up the shaft until it stopped on the third floor. 'Funny,' he thought to himself, 'The one person here that I share respect with is the only other person shackled to this place. How beautiful. Now to figure out how regulate the flow of this damn shackle. Without the seals, nobody will be able to stand in my way. Not the hunters, not that bastard Zaizen, not even Auzzie. But where is he?"


	13. Chapter 13

So I haven't written in about 5 years, so here's to picking up where Eyes of Ice left off. I am the original author of that story, I'm just a dumbass and forgot both the password and account used under the name Da Squeakz, so I'm starting over again as Shikimo, my second most used name. Anyways, picking up from chapter 12 atm.

()()()()()

It had been 2 weeks since the night by the well with Michael. In that time, Ghost and the hunters had successfully bagged another witch without incident. The hunters had now accepted Ghost's place on their team, and even Amon could look at him without glaring now. Of course, that doesn't me he liked Ghost, but there was a sense of repsect between the 2 of them. They both knew the other was strong and despite disagreeing on many different subjects, they recognized that neither would try to kill the other. Granted, should Amon get the order to put Ghost down, he would not hesitate, and that was shared knowledge between the two.

"Michael, have you heard about any witches coming into Japan recently?" Ghost asked.

"Nothing man," Michael replied.

"K, let me know if you get anything."

Michael watched as Ghost walked to the elevator and rode it down to the courtyard. Recently, Ghost had been asking him that more and seeming to get more agitated each day.

Michael rose and walked to the window, watching as Ghost walked outside and lit his cigarette. It was something the witch had picked up recently without any tangible reason as to why. Michael had learned to accept many things about Ghost, regardless of how odd it seemed. The relationship between the two had grown recently, and Michael was the only one at the STN-J that had seen Ghost's sense of humor, or seen the witch in his bouts of depression. Both were during the late hours of the night after everyone else had gone home, and he liked to believe that it was a sign of acceptance, that Ghost had grown to like Michael. Michael watched a bit more as Ghost extinguished his smoke by conjuring a bit of ice out of the air. Returning to his desk, he glanced around the room. Dojima was looking uninterestedly at a magazine, Karasuma was making coffee, Amon and Sakaki were discussinghunting tactics and strategies, and Robin was browsing through the files of past witches at her desk. After assessing the situation for a bit, Michael got up and began walking across the room. As he reached Robin's desk, the door to Zaizen's office swung open.

"Michael, my office, now," was all the man had to say.

Cursing his luck, Michael walked into the office.

'What have I done to get called in this time? I haven't been slacking off, my information's all been correct,' he thought to himself.

"Yes boss?" He asked.

" I've noticed you growing fond of our new pet here at the STN-J," Zaizen calmly stated.

"Well, I guess I have. It gets kind of boring here at night and its nice to have his company," the computer tech replied.

"Have you noticed anything suspicious about his behavior? Has he been doing anything out of the ordinary?"

'He would ask me this,' Michael griped to himself.

"No sir, although I would say that overall he's not exactly an ordinary person, what with being able to control ice and all," Michael said, smiling weakly in an attempt at humor.

"If I wanted to laugh, I'd look at Sakaki's hunt record," Zaizen replied sternly.

Michael flinched, "Sorry boss."

"So he hasn't been doing anything besides the normal eating, drinking, smoking and sleeping?"

"No sir."

"Ok, I want you to keep an eye on him and let me know immediately if he starts acting suspicious. Dogs tend to act different when they're either dreading or anticipating something. Dismissed."

Michael left the office, unsure of why he didn't mention Ghost's growing anxiety about witches arriving in the country. Maybe it was because he knew what would happen to Ghost if he brought it up. Zaizen wasn't known for his kindness when he wanted answers, and from what Ghost had said about the pain the orbo injections, Michael knew that Zaizen would slowly force near-lethal amounts of the substance into Ghost until he got the answers he wanted.

As Michael got back to the others, he saw the hunters at their stations researching any possible future targets and formulating how to deal with them.

'Damn,' Michael thought to himself, ' Zaizen had to blow my chance earlier.'

()()()()()

Oddly enough I wrote this whole thing from my Blackberry as an email to myself because I refuse to pay 50 dollars to use word on here. Yay resourcefulness. I'm considering re-writing and condensing the previous chapters, though that looks to be a huge pain in the ass. Oh well, onward.


	14. Chapter 14

"Hey Ghost, can I talk to you?"

Ghost looked over at Michael. It was getting late, even by their standards, but despite being about to go to sleep, he decided to entertain him.

"Speak your mind, you know you don't need my permission to do so."

"Right," Michael replied, "It's just that the other day Zaizen called me into his office and was asking me some questions about you."

"A guard dog for the hound, eh?" Ghost said, cracking a smile at his own joke.

"I guess you could put it that way. He was wondering if you had been doing anything out of the ordinary recently."

"Not surprising, whatd you tell him?" Ghost asked.

" I told him no, you've been acting as normal as anyone with control over ice does," Michael replied.

Ghost chuckled, "I get the feeling he didn't find much amusement in that answer. Anything else?"

"No, I told him that you were acting the same as you always have, but its made me do some thinking," Michael answered.

"About what?"

"Why do you keep asking me about witches coming into Japan from other countries?"

There was silence in the room as Ghost regarded Michael.

"Let's step outside," was all Ghost said as he walked to the elevator.

The pair rode down to the courtyard, Ghost lighting a cigarette as they stepped outside.

"I'm assuming you remember us mentioning the possibility of needing help from the STN-J, correct?" Ghost asked.

"Vaguely, it was right around the time that we had our first encounter with you two. What about it?" Michael replied.

"Well, as you know, there are witches out there that have fully awakened and know how to control their power entirely. To make a long story short, it wasn't just the STN-A that me and Raynalia were running from when we came to Japan. There was also a witch that felt we had wronged him, and he's not the kind of person to give up on something once he's decided he wants it. In this case, it was Rayna. Imagine, being able to control a witch with the ability to move faster than normal people can react. Wouldn't that be a powerful tool at your disposal?"

"I can imagine so. Someone that is able to get in and out of anywhere almost without being seen. Many things could be done with her," Michael said slowly.

"Well, he saw what she could do, and he also saw a consort of sorts in her. He started off nice enough in his attempts to get her to join him, but she continuously turned him down, refusing to leave me behind. He was infuriated that she would choose to stay with someone that hadn't developed full control over their powers like he had. So he tried to kill me. As you can see, things didn't work out for him like he had hoped. As soon as I was movable again, we up and came here, hoping to avoid both him and the STN. Once more, things didn't go as they were hoped to. Rayna's at your factory, I'm your hunting dog, but at least we're both alive." Ghost said, finishing his cigarette. However, instead of freezing the endas he normally did, he just let it drop and stared off into the distance.

Michael sat in silence for a bit before speaking. "So you're worried he'll come here?"

"He had a position of relative power across the ocean, by having our statuses updated in the STN's computer system, he now knows where we've disappeared to, and any day now I expect to see him coming to kill me and take her. If she won't go with him, he'll kill her too."

"Exactly how strong is he, like, should we be worried? I can't really imagine a witch that can stand up to your and Robin's powers combined," Michael said.

"Alone, he could kill either one of us right now. If we're together, we'll probably still die but I don't think he'd walk away from that fight without a scratch. The combined strength of our whole team could probably take him down, but I'd rather not have any of you guys get involved in the fight. Its my mess, I'll clean it up if I can. Once I'm gone, I doubt he'll stay in the country much longer, thus getting him out of your hair."

Michael was stunned. He knew that Ghost had grown into mutually respected the others, but this made it seem like he actually cared about them. As Michael processed all this information, Ghost continued staring out over the courtyard.

"Zaizen would want to know of this conversation."

Michael whipped around to see Amon standing a few yards behind him. "How long have you been there?" Michael asked.

"Long enough," the hunter replied.

"Well, I'd say that this would be considered important information, however I do not believe that all of it should be shared. All that Zaizen needs to know is that there is a high chance that a very powerful witch from America might be coming to Japan soon and to be try and be ready," Ghost said as he slowly turned and began walking towards Amon.

"And why should that be all I say?"

"Because," Ghost whispered so only Amon could hear, "I can give you guys a way out of the STN-J should anything ever get out of hand here. This target is not one to be taken lightly."

Amon considered this for a second. "Why do I feel like there's a catch?"

"Well, I'm not a person that requires a whole lot, but there are a few things from the outside world that I do miss. Its been far too long since I've had a drink," Ghost said, a grin creeping across his face.

"You're asking for 2 things in return for 1. Why should I take you up on this?" Amon asked.

"I suppose its only fair to trade 2 for 2," Ghost said and he turned and started to walk off with his hands behind his head, "What if I also trained Robin? She's strong, yes, but she needs far more experience than she has. She needs cunning, she needs speed, when she attacks now she leaves herself far too open to counters. Its only due to my distractions or inexperience of our targets that she hasn't been seriously hurt yet."

Amon's eyes narrowed. It was a known secret that he had a soft spot for the flame witch, even if it rarely showed. "Fine, I'll only mention what you asked me to, and I'll see about getting you some drink."

"Beautiful. This business being concluded, might I ask what you're doing here at this hour?" Ghost asked.

"I'm coming into work. It is 5:30 you know," Amon replied.

Ghost paused for a second, looked up at the sky and then turned to Michael, "I blame you for keeping me up so late."

"What? Whatd I do?" Michael asked.

"Hell if I know, but I don't really have anyone else to blame, so you're as good an excuse as any," Ghost replied as he headed towards the elevator, "Amon, would you mind taking the stairs? I have something I'd like to say to Michael in private, and before you ask, it has nothing to do with this witch."

Amon shrugged his shoulders, "Whatever."

"Awesome. Michael, after you," Ghost mocked a bow as the doors opened.

"Smartass," was all the computer tech had to say.

As the doors closed behind them, Ghost turned to Michael.

"You do realize I'm rooting for you, right?"

"What are you talking about?" Michael said.

Ghost chuckled as the doors opened. "You'll figure it out," was all he said as he turned down the hallway towards his room, leaving a confused Michael in the elevator.

Ghost walked the hallway with his hands in his pockets, mind racing. Sure he could help Robin get stronger, but there's no way that she could improve enough to even the odds, and the two weren't able to work together as well as he and Raynalia were able to.

He opened the door to his room and flicked the switch. The fluorescent light flickered on to reveal his cot and closed closet doors. Sitting on the cot was a small bottle of whiskey. Smiling to himself, Ghost slowly opened the bottle, enjoying the strong smell of the liquid. Taking a quick swig, he put the bottle in his closet as the warmth of the alcohol spread from his stomach outward. Collapsing on his cot, Ghost kicked off his shoes and fell asleep.


End file.
